Bury me in Snow
by Falloutthoughts
Summary: It has been a year since the Sole Survivor awoke to the unforgiving ruins of the Commonwealth. Since then she has taken down the Institute and along with her son, Shaun, has settled to a life in Diamond City working along side Nick as part of the Valentine Detective Agency. Things seem to be going pretty well up until she is kidnapped. The only clue as to who by; a white rose
1. Act 1: Missing Mother

Bury me in Snow – Act 1: Missing Mother.

He had thought that his partner was on the late side today. Usually they and Ellie had sat and eaten breakfast together by now whilst the three of them caught up on the latest gossip and case theories. He could tell their secretary was starting to get a bit frustrated with hunger – she didn't say anything but her stomach sure did.

The door to the office burst open and, by some twist of dark irony, young Shaun was the one to come toppling in. "Me Valentine! You gotta help!" he cried, his eyes wide and wild looking. "My mother's been kidnapped!"

Nick stood hearing Ellie gasp and catching her move a hand to her mouth in the corner of his eye. This was no time to panic however. Experience had taught him that a cool head and haste over speed paid off a great deal more regularly than just rushing in blind. He knelt before the child to reach his eye level and lifted his covered hand to place it reassuringly on the boy's shoulder. "Calm down," he ordered gently. "We'll find her and bring her back home safely but right now I need you to take a seat, take a deep breath then tell me everything that happened to you today, alright?" His glowing amber eyes met with the familiar grey ones and the boy nodded miserably but with the new calm determination Nick had hoped to draw from him. He stood up, guiding Shaun to the chair before the main desk before taking up the vacant seat opposite. As the child let out a deep breath he re-prompted him, feeling Ellie taking up her post just behind him with her note pad. "Now. Go over your day for me. Starting from when you got up this morning."

Many have complained before now as to why such mundane tasks were so important when a person was missing but to a detective like Nick these details were sometimes more important than what the missing person even looked like. A name and eye colour were great and all but their habits and preferred lifestyles are what really gave him a feel for the person's mind set and helped him keep an eye out for clues. He knew his partner's habits and lifestyle by this point obviously but there was something else he was hoping for. Something the boy might have picked up on or seen that wasn't important at the time but would make all the difference now. He listened intently as Shaun talked about the two of them getting up from the room his mother had in Vault 81. That was out of the ordinary as she had a house here in Diamond city – Home Plate – but it was still no surprise to Nick. She'd told them previously that she'd be visiting there to follow a minor case. Both he and Ellie had expected her to report in this morning from that very case. No.. nothing strange there. He continued to listen as Shaun narrated their walk home together. They'd been travelling through Chestnut Hillock Reservoir where he'd apparently been asking her about the different plant life and creatures there. They'd been collecting a few samples for him to look at through her telescope back in the small lab she'd built in that house of hers – one that had frequently proven valuable in their work. One little comment he'd made about wanting to set one up in the agency and she'd remembered it months later opening it up for his use too. He smiled at the fond memory, allowing himself just a second to waste on that sense of kinship before shaking his head clear and getting back to the business at hand.

"That's when they grabbed us!" the boy stated sharply. "We were picking some Bloodleaf out of the water when someone snatched me from behind. Mother tried to pull her gun out but someone got her too holding her arms back. She kicked the guy that was holding me in the knee and I managed to get free of him. I wanted to help but she told me to run so.. so I did. I ran all the way back here. Please! You gotta help her!"

The boy started picking up in tone and hysteria once again and Nick lifted a hand in the air to stall the rising panic hushing him as he did so. "Shhh, I will kid don't worry. Just a few more questions and I can be on my way, I promise, this case is top priority." He could see the child was becoming impatient but he calmed once again, a frown marring his youthful brow. "What can you tell me about this group?" Nick asked. "How many of 'em? Did they say anything? Did they have any distinguishing features like a uniform or scars or such?" The boy's head bowed and Nick gave him the time he needed to think on this. It couldn't be easy to do and he was struck by just how well he was handling all of this. The boy certainly took after his mother, that was for sure..

"There where… five of them," Shaun responded. "I think. Two held my mother and one grabbed me but there was another one with a gun just a little bit away further up the hill and another out by the trees. I think he was hiding but I saw him when I ran to get away and avoided him so he didn't catch me. I don't think they had uniforms on but.. they where all wearing suits. A little bit like the guards in Goodneighbor but I don't think I've seen any of them in Goodneighbor before."

"Mm.. hiding in the trees with ranged weapons.. So it sounds like an ambush was planned without immediate intent to kill.. You did well to get out of there unscathed kid. Where any shots fired?"

"No," the boy responded shaking his head. "I think the trees blocked me from them. Mother always told me that if I needed to run I should find cover and run low as I can."

Nick nodded. Good advice to give really but he could see there was something else on the child's mind. Something he'd not said yet but looked to be mulling it over. "There -ah, anything else you can tell me?" he prompted.

"Um… I don't know what it means but.." the child started frowning to himself. Nick waited patiently for him to share it. "I think one of them must have been trying to catch me because I heard one of them shout to him. I'm… not really sure what they said but it sounded something like, 'we only get trades for this one'." He sat looking at Nick now with questions in his own eyes as the old bot mulled the words over.

"So.. could be that this was no chance kidnapping.. Sounds like they knew who they were out for."

Standing Nick adjusted his coat and hat picking up his rifle and a few supplies for the road. Shaun jumped up out of his own seat. "Are we going out to find her now?" he asked hurriedly. Nick shook his head. "Not 'we' kid. 'Me'. I'm better of doing this one alone, trust me on this. You stay here and look after Ellie for me ok?"

As Shaun opened his mouth to speak his argument Ellie stepped in gaining his attention. "I know it's hard staying behind, but Nick is good at his job. You can trust him with this ok?"

The boy looked dejected but bowed his head in miserable acceptance.

"Be good you two. We'll be home before you know it," encouraged the Synth detective, flashing them a wink and a smile before heading on out the door. In his own heart, robotic or not, he could feel the cold chill of worry gnawing the edges. Hundreds of scenarios ran though his head and none were any better than the last… He had to get to the bottom of this and fast.

His first scene of investigation - Chestnut Hillock Reservoir.


	2. Act 2: Collecting the Pieces

Bury me in Snow – Act 2: Collecting the Pieces.

If he hadn't been told what had happened here Nick wouldn't have assumed anything was out of the ordinary at first glance but years as a detective had trained his senses on what to look for. Any odd bit of junk or scrap on the ground could actually be a vital treasure in his search. Scuffs in the earth, blots of blood or spit could be the first 'yellow brick' on the road he needed to take.

It was a large area and he had a lot of ground to cover in as little time as possible so he started with the water mass where Shaun had said the incident had occurred. If they were walking home from Vault 81 then they should have been on the south side by his reckoning. Surely enough as he approached the assumed location there where immediate signs of a struggle for anyone looking hard enough. Dirt and foliage was scattered in unnatural patterns and there was a short trail of blood – which he hoped didn't belong to his partner – at the base of the hill. Nick studied the area in detail keeping a sharp eye out for any discarded items that would serve as a clue or evidence. Seemed one of the kidnappers may have had a taste for Dandy Boy Apples if the empty container was anything to go off and… there was one more thing that caught his attention; A short way from the pier Nick stood upon was a boat, broken and damaged by time and the water it rested in. Upon its moss covered bow, as if left there as some sick calling card, was a white rose petal. He picked it up, caressing it thoughtfully between metallic digits. The white rose… Something old Nick remembered well but, not something he'd believed had survived the ravages of time and the nuclear apocalypse… Shaun had said that he and his mother had been collecting plant life but there was nothing like this to be found growing here. This left him with a horrible chill. A gnawing concern that threatened to eat at him until he put his suspicions to rest.

Winter. Eddie Winter.

That was a name he'd hoped he'd never have to deal with again because the bastard was dead – killed by his own hands and with no mistakes made. He was dead. But then how and why did this symbol and this ominous presence come to be with him. Back when the original Nick chased the criminal kingpin the white rose was known to be used as one of many little symbols of the Winter house. It felt impossible but yet there was no other lead he could think of from this incredibly rare flower.

There was only one place he could think of to find the answers he wanted now. The bunker hidden deep beneath Andrews station. His next destination.


	3. Act 3: Anything else

Bury me in Snow – Act 3: Anything Else

Questions burned furiously through his processors on his way to Eddie's secret bunker. He focused on the questions only to avoid all the equally vicious emotions which where storming within him; Anger, panic, confusion, fear. Eddie Winter was dead! He was dead. This thought he kept repeating to himself but what if he wasn't? What if, by some sick joke, the man really had cheated death and all he and his partner had done was give him some time out and one hell of a headache? No. That was impossible. No one could survive a bullet to the head, not even Eddie Winter! He was dead!

For the first time since well over a year ago now, when he and his partner arrived at Andrew station with all 10 holotapes, his thoughts turned to Jenny and the tragic injustice which befell her. As impossible as it might seem he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that history was setting repeat itself and, no matter the calm he tried to reign in over himself or the knowledge that this chapter of Nick Valentine history was completed long ago, experience had taught him that gut instinct was often right.

He'd barely noticed in his journey to find answers just how quick a pace he had adopted. His usually cautious and calculated steps pushed into an almost mindless sprint across Boston toward his destination and more than once he'd caught himself and had been forced to stop and collect himself before he ran into a waiting raider camp or den of feral ghouls. Once inside the bunker however he found his calm a little easier to grasp. Found the cool and more deliberate professionalism talking hold more naturally as he determined to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

The first thing he noticed in the silence of the room was that the body of the criminal kingpin was gone. Not a comforting thought and he felt a whirl of gears speed up in threatening panic before he was able to focus himself back into his normal composure. No sense in jumping to conclusions. They had left the door open. It's not likely that ferals or wild animals had reached him scavenging for food – there was no mess left. It was possible that raiders had move it so they could use this room themselves however. He'd had to kill a few of them to get down here so it was a possibility they had just dumped the body somewhere.

Slowly, methodically, Nick made his way around the room wishing he'd spent a little more time taking note of what was here the first time he visited. Blood stained the floor and far wall in ugly puddles but beyond that the room was quite attractive and well kept. A checker board sat on what must have served as a dining and multi-purpose table, a bed on the higher level and a small kitchen beside that. A radio sat on the unit near the entrance that tuned into Diamond city interestingly enough. He supposed it would make sense that Winter would use what he could to keep up to date on the outside world. This brought another thought to mind however. Did Winter really keep himself locked up in here? He'd seemed pretty surprised when he and his partner had broken into this place but.. something seemed off about that idea. Searching the room Nick failed to find anything that served as waste disposal. Not only that, food supplies where running low and fresh flowers bloomed in the vases around the walls. This didn't fit with the idea that someone had lived a solitary and confined life for over 200 years. It also did not miss his grim attention that a single white rose sat mockingly in a ceramic flute next to the radio..

Heaving a deep and unsettled sigh Nick removed his lighter from his pocket and lit a much needed cigarette. A half-eaten pack of Dandy Boy Apples sat abandoned on the kitchen counter and the fridge was stocked with Nuka cola and Gwinnett pale. He opened the fridge to see if there was anything else lurking in there and frowned. The ale was warm to the touch.. as if it had been stocked recently and a couple of fresh mirelurk eggs had a home at the back. He closed the door thoughtfully. If the raiders hadn't moved in here – which they could have but then why would they have kidnapped his partner and left white rose petals in their wake – then Eddie himself either left his bunker more regularly than Nick had imagined or else had someone else doing the legwork for him. He supposed that made sense.. Not like Eddie could reclaim his crown as king of crime if he didn't have any muscle backing him up. The same question still remained however, why would one of Eddie's goons go to the trouble of kidnap and possible revenge of their own accord? Given Winter's history he never showed signs of deep bonds of friendship with his associates.

Finding more questions than answers Nick turned his attention to the terminal in the far corner. Perhaps if he got that old machine to sing he'd find a few more meaningful clues. The encryptions where tight and it took many a while for Nick to work his way through the unyielding coding but he cracked it bringing up a few diary entries and the lock override to the safe beside him. Blunting out his cigarette in the waiting ashtray he first began reading through some of the files he could find. Plans, connections, locations. Seems that through the decades Mr Winter hadn't just been sitting around watching television and playing checkers with himself. He'd kept his circle of connections and correspondents going ensuring he would still have money and enough influence to make his moves when he finally decided to emerge from his bunker completely. He wasn't surprised to find that Goodneighbour was on his activity list though he was interested to find his hold there had slipped significantly with the death of Vic – the old boss there. Seems Hancock was in the bad books though, according to Eddie's entry log, hadn't found a place on the 'hit list' just yet. Seems he could still have had 'some use' if he'd managed to come to some agreement with Winter. Nick laughed bitterly to himself. Part of him wondered how that exchange would have gone down.

Hours went by as Nick poured over the hundreds of logs and files stored on the terminal. The information might not only be critical to his current search but also the lists of places and deals he found matched up with a couple of other cases he had backed up and awaiting his attention at the agency. All these years and this bastard still had people's lives in his back pocket! Enough was enough. Scrolling down he halted at the title of one of the last entries. 'We are done,' it stated. Faint memories stirred painfully in his chest and a tightness set in as he clicked for the file to play. It was an audio and he recognised the voice immediately as it saturated the quiet room.

'Detective Valentine. Nick. Listen... I'm sorry.

You've got every right to be upset, but you need to believe me when I tell you I had no idea. Operation Winter's End was my baby.

I believed in it. I still believe in it. They kept us all in the dark, me included. I got briefed this afternoon, and they laid it all out.

The whole thing. Winter's deal with the DA. His agreement to bring down the other families.

His idea to record the holotapes and incriminate all known associates.

And them needing a legitimate op, and a real task force, to make it all look like Winter was the focus.

It was the plan all along, Nick. There's nothing we can do. Winter was a stoolie for the feds. He reported directly to the BADTFL. All on the books.

For his cooperation, Winter will be granted total immunity. It's over.

Effective immediately, Operation Winter's End is to cease all investigations and operations. The task force is hereby disbanded.

We played our part, pal. Not the part we thought, but hey. It happens. Now we're just another box in the file room.

Nick, listen to me. Everything that's happened. With Winter. With... Jenny. It's more than any one man should have to handle. You need help.

Boston PD has been working with the eggheads at C.I.T. Some new program they have to deal with trauma. Scanning brainwaves or some such.

I'll get you the info. You're going. That's an order.'

Nick paused for what felt like the longest time. It was the voice of Captain Widmark. He knew none of this was addressed to him. But he remembered it. He remembered the crushing agony that weighed upon old Nick's heart as his world literally got torn from him. His fiancé murdered and the case he'd spent so much of his life on tossed aside because of some corrupt deal made by the people he'd trusted most. It was a blow, and it was one that winded him as effectively as a punch to the gut – back when he had guts that is…

How on earth did this recording come to be on Eddie Winter's terminal…? And why was it the most recent entry? He had a vague idea. The tape, he thinks, was left in old Nick's office or somewhere in the police department he'd been working in at the time.. If that was so then his partner may have found it and picked it up whilst looking for Winter's Holotapes? It was a chain of guesswork and guesswork wasn't normally something he liked to rely too heavily on in his investigations but… once again, his gut feeling twisted uncomfortably with suspicion. If his partner had picked up this tape then.. it could well be that it was left here on purpose. That it was intended that he should find it. He frowned, rubbing his face, sure he'd gained a fair few more stress lines from all of this. The more he allowed himself along this route of thought the more this all felt like some elaborate plot for revenge. If Eddie really was somehow alive or if there was someone angered enough by his death to go to these extremes then Nick was walking right into a trap. Well. It wouldn't be the first time, he reminded himself standing up and adjusting his hat.

Gwinnett ale and mirelurk eggs. A little ways North-East and he'd come across Gwinnett brewery and restaurant. It was close enough to the water's edge that mirelurks would be a common sight and for now it was all he had to go on. Ensuring his gun was loaded and ready Nick set out to his next destination – Gwinnett Brewery.


	4. Act 4: Blood Trails

Bury me in Snow – Act 4: Blood Trails.

As he had suspected the area had been inhabited by super mutants. The dripping nets that hung filled with mangled bodies and the horrendous stench that came with them told Nick that they had lived here undisturbed for quite some time too. He frowned, unsure how to feel about this. On the one hand he felt temptation towards relief. That perhaps he really had just been letting imagination run wild back there and that Winter really did have nothing to do with this. On the other hand if that was the case then he had wasted nearly two days on chasing shadows and his partner was still being held captive by goodness knows who as he allowed himself to be distracted by groundless guesswork and fear.

He drew back from his hiding place overlooking the brewery before trouble could spot him and ventured back the way he'd come lighting up another cigarette and inhaling deeply. 'What now then?' he wondered. Did he snoop around a little more based upon his initial instinct or did he start from scratch returning to the scene of the crime? Hesitant footsteps took him backwards and through his pondering something caught his eye. "Hello," he greeted as he turned to inspect the shredded bit of plant life further. It lay there seemingly harmlessly and an absent thought probed the back of his mind as a reminder that even the most experienced detective can overlook things sometimes. Bloodleaf. Or at least part of one anyway. They were a common enough flower in the Commonwealth which is probably why he'd paid it no mind when he'd first walked by it but now that he was looking at it more closely he realised it served a far greater importance. The petal was shredded. It was recognisable but torn in an unnatural manner and where he stood, where the fragment lay, they were too far from water for the plant have grown nearby. Young Shaun had told him that this is what he and his missing mother had been gathering at the time of her kidnap. This was far too much of a coincidence. Nick felt another hunch build in his chest and sure enough a swift search of the area granted him another torn piece of the same plant and then another a couple of yards from that one. This was a trail. This was her way of speaking to him. Trusting him.

"Hang on partner," he spoke straightening his hat. "I'm coming for ya."

The last rays of sunlight where dwindling on the horizon by the time Nick reached the end of the trail. He crouched behind the remains of a wall as he scanned the area carefully. Guards where thin in number but still present. The building itself is one he'd never seen before but it looked like a warehouse. Possible it was used as a depot for Gwinnett products from the nearby factory in pre-war times guessing from the remains of large vans and wagons littering the broken and earth claimed ground. At first glance he might have thought they were Triggermen from Goodneighbour but another of Shaun's descriptions came to mind and the weapons they were carrying didn't match the favoured sub-machine guns of the Goodneighbour goons. One guard in particular caught his attention as he was seemingly relieved from duty by one of the others. "Interesting limp ya got there pal.." he commented to himself as the man who looked to be suffering some sort of knee injury made his way with difficulty back inside the building. This was it. This is where they must be holding her. Just a little longer and they'd be back home safe and sound he promised himself and his partner both in a silent prayer. Getting in unnoticed would be the difficult part.

The task was as familiar as it was dangerous. Nick kept close to the walls and the shadows, the dim light working to his advantage. His pistol was kept to hand but where he could he took out the guards from behind, using the grip to knock them unconscious. Studying habits and patrol patterns got him into the positions he needed and patience did most of the rest. It wasn't a fast way in but it was a method that wouldn't bring attention to himself and he feared that bringing attention to himself here could create a hostage situation rather than a prisoner situation. It'd be easier to break his partner out of there if they didn't have a gun held at her temple.

The warehouse was unfortunately large. He found the cellars and chose to search from the bottom up. From his experience no one ever chose to keep someone captive on the ground floor with a large open window handy.. It made hiding a lot harder but luck appeared to be on his side. Numbers really where thin and thanks to his partner teaching him some of their lock picking skills he was able to get through some of the quieter rooms. It became apparent where all the Gwinnett ale had been pilfered from and by the looks of things and from a few scattered files he found there where many other operations going on here too. Perhaps if his partner was up for it once he broke her out of whatever cell they had her in they could look around and try to figure out what those operations are. One way or another, this was a group that looked like it'd taken a recent hit in its activity progress and numbers but was trying to rebuild. He intended to put a stop to it before it could regain any foothold in the Commonwealth.

Another floor down and he started to find the heavier doors and fewer people. He frowned as his inbuilt geiger counter started crackling and ticking into life. Radiation, no wonder there where fewer guards down here. Reasoning it was a poor place to keep a captive prisoner he was about to turn around and try another area before a light caught his eye. He craned his neck to see where it was coming from and ahead he could see a terminal sat upon a battered old desk. He head on over, careful to disarm any traps he spotted along the way. Odd there should be so many on this stretch of corridor.. That didn't sit well with him and he double checked his gun to ensure it was ready for quick use. A room that must have been a walk in fridge or 'cold room' in its day stood at the end of the long walkway and, as he made a living off of idle curiosity, he took time to peer in through the window placed in the upper part of the door. His mechanical heart sank at the sight within there and his hand grasped and pulled at the handle in a horrified urgency. It was her, she was in there. He cursed as the door refused to budge and looked to the window again. The sound had caught her attention and she looked up to see who had come to torment her now. He didn't like the sluggishness of her movements nor the manner in which she was curled in the back corner. Her eyes, even from this distance, looked red and tired and the sickly tone of her skin spoke volumes. They'd left her down here in this irradiated cell with no more than a dog bowl of water! His fury knew no bounds but for now he swallowed it in favour of the sense he'd need to try and break her out.

Turning he moved to the computer terminal. If there wasn't a key nearby maybe it worked on an automated lock. His concentration had never been sharper as he shifted through the decoding process of hacking the terminal as delicately as one might attempt to defuse a bomb. He heard the satisfying bleep of the machine which granted him access to the functions and records stored upon it. There was no time to read through the data right now though, he opened the door to the now holding cell and strode into it kneeling at his partner's side. She smiled weakly at him, a joke managing to meet the faint expression in greeting. "Did you stop for groceries on your way here?" she teased and it pained him to hear just how fragile her voice had become.

He chuckled gently in return lifting her to his arms. "Yeah. Had to collect a few vegetables." If anything else was to leave his lips it was soon forgotten as the heavy door swung shut of its own accord. Panic filled him and with his partner still in his arms he moved swiftly over to press heavily on the release button but to no avail. The door had been tampered with so it couldn't be opened from the inside. "Dammit!" he cursed, his voice rising to frustration. Somewhere above his head he heard a speaker buzz into life and the cruel laughter of a successful predator mocked him.

"Welcome Mr Valentine," the gravely yet feminine voice greeted him coyly. "I was hoping you would join us."

"What?" the detective uttered, mostly to himself. His mind raced to catch up with his situation. They were trapped but he would work on that. For now the why's and who's where the important features. "Whadda'ya want?" he demanded to the unseen captor.

"To the point, I like that. Simply put, I want you to suffer," responded the voice coldly taking on a harder tone as it continued. "You killed my husband and I will destroy you for it."

"Your husband?" Nick repeated once again trying to use this new information to link together what he thought he already knew. It was the fading voice of his partner that gave him the answer.

"Claire?" they wondered aloud, disbelief as evident on her sickly features as it was in his own chest.

Claire.. He'd never even stopped to entertain the possibility. He remembered now the holotape his partner had picked up in Eddie's bunker the year previous. But at the time the absence of anyone else there and the fact it had been left on the side had him believing that she'd either passed away of old age through the two hundred years since they were both sealed in there or else that she had arrived, taken one look at his ghoulified features and fled from his sight forever more. It hadn't even occurred to him the possibility that she may somehow still be alive. A ghoul herself even! Hell, he didn't ever entertain the thought that Eddie Winter was either capable or deserving of that loyal of affection. "Claire…" he repeated himself, the word nothing more than a sound on the edge of his breath.

"Seems you got there in the end. I guess you aren't as poor a detective as I had you pinned for after all," the harsh voice quipped.

"Alright Claire, you got me," Nick commented in resignation. Now to try and work through some tough negotiation. "Just.. let this lady here go and we'll work this through." He was careful about his wording. It seemed this 'Mrs Winter' had done her homework on who to nab and how but he still didn't want to avoid the even minor chance that he could convince her that she was just an innocent bystander in all of this and that her part was now over.

Sickeningly the laugh returned. That laugh that held no real humour but all the bitterness a heart could hold. "Oh no, I think I would much prefer her to stay. After all, if it weren't for that little cow there I would still have my own partner at my side. No. I think she should stay. Hopefully she's enjoying the little rad shower I set up for her. If I'm lucky she'll turn into a ghoul and can stay at the party a little longer. If not, well.. You're an expert at handling loss now. I'm sure you have a few choice goodbyes you can utter."

He doesn't swear very often but the name he called out angrily to the now mockingly silent speakers was colourful to say the least. He sank down back against the wall, his partner held to him. He had to think up a way out of here… perhaps there was a panel he could remove and use the wiring to.. do .. something? Damn! Do, anything! There had to be a way. He was a synth, he could stay down here indefinitely if left to it, though he suspected the boredom would eventually rot his circuits before time did. His partner on the other hand.. He looked down cradling them close to him. "Don't you worry kid…" he spoke to them. "I'll find us a way out of here you just- .. you just hang in there."

Her eyes looked like they were heavy to keep open but she regarded him with a sad fondness. "I'm sorry.." she uttered knowing without the words shared what was running through his mind right now and it made his heart ache all the more.

"Don't be," he persisted. "I'm bustin' us out of here. So don't you go quittin' on me yet!"


	5. Act 5: Impatience

Bury me in Snow – Act 5: Impatience

At the back of the open room, in the area typically considered 'off-limits' to the public, Ellie could hear the young boy stir restlessly in Nick's bed. She couldn't blame him for not being able to sleep well. To be honest she was having trouble herself. It wasn't uncommon for Nick or his partner to spend several days away on a case but this felt personal and it scarred her. The two had decided to stay at the agency until they got back but where they really safe there? Security in Diamond City and its walls offered her some sense of protection but she was beginning to have doubts. They wouldn't be difficult to find if whoever it was out there decided they wanted to return for the child after all.

The hour was late when a not so tired but troubled voice called to her bringing her attention away from her thoughts and the paperwork she'd been going through. "Have you heard anything yet?" the boy asked with faint hope. If anyone had even so much as touched the handle of the front door the boy would have been beside her in an instant to find out what it was about, they both knew that.

She shook her head sadly. "No. But no news is good news, or.. so I've been told," she commented, not sure if she really believed that herself. "Hey, what have you got there?" she then asked noting something shiny and metallic between his fingers.

"This?" he responded looking down to it and then holding the small thin pipe up for her to see. It was a whistle. "Nick made it for me," he told her. "He said that Dogmeat can hear a sound that normal people can't hear and when he does he comes to find you. I got to thinking, if he can find me anywhere then maybe he can find my mother. Nick said he's got a good nose too."

Ellie watched him, trying to follow his meaning and feeling her heart stall when she catches on. "Woah! Woaah! Slow down there. You can't just go chasing off after these guys! It's too dangerous. Nick will find your mother ok? Don't worry.."

Her attempts to pacify the boy's desire to act rashly was thwarted when a scratch of claws sounded at the door along with a familiar bark. She scrambled to get out of her seat as Shaun's face lit up and he ran over to let him inside. How on earth did that dog get here so fast!? Dogmeat wagged his tail excitedly, lifting himself to lick at Shaun's face. The boy just laughed and rubbed his neck and sides.

"Okay you two just stop one minute, no one is going anywhere."

Shaun looked up at her with a heavy frown and she felt her heart tug at the sight. "Look… I know you're worried, I am too, but this is dangerous. For all we know Nick could turn up back here only to have to come out again to find and rescue us from some other heap of trouble. We need to stay here where it's safe. I know it's difficult but it's the best thing we can do for them." The boy looked up at her opening his mouth to argue but a raised hand silenced him. "No. It's too dangerous and too late in the day. Dogmeat can stay but you're both going to bed." It wasn't usual for her to take such a hard tone or role but the idea of Shaun, or any child, running out into the ruins to chase down some violent gang of kidnappers terrified her. A wave of relief washed through her at the sigh of resignation from the boy. He lowered his head with a nod and returned to bed with Dogmeat in tow.

Luckily this trap set up meant that no one had checked his pockets and so the screwdriver he kept with him for general upkeep and maintenance – mostly on his right hand which came loose a lot – was still there. The head was much smaller than what he needed but with a lot of persistence he was able to take off one of the wall panels. He wasn't sure what he'd find but it was better to look than sit and do nothing. Maybe he could fix the circuits in there and get the emergency internal release button working on the door. Old Nick wasn't bad with fixing things in his day, memories which had helped and had been expanded on when synth Nick took up the handyman role in Diamond City. That said, this was an odd set up of wires and circuits and all he had on him was a screwdriver. Still he examined the make-up carefully and at the back he spotted a number of wires that had been intentionally cut. He made a sound of intrigue and tried to follow where they lead to. The confined space of the panel meant he had to put a lot of guess work into it but he could be fairly certain it wasn't going to do anything unless he tried fiddling with it. Reaching in he took the wires trying to reconnect them. Exposing the copper lengths – which was always fun when you yourself were made of metal – he twisted them together. There were three in total but when done he frowned looking around. Didn't seem like anything had happened..

"Do you.. need anything?" he heard a weak voice behind him offer.

"If you've got a supersledge or hacksaw under that coat that'd be handy," he teased intending to keep their spirits up as much as he could. "But otherwise I just need you to hang on whilst I try and sweet talk this old girl into waking up for us." He took another look around the interior. "Mm.. now there's something…" he commented, mostly to himself. At the back a wire was missing entirely. It looked like it would have hooked up the control panel to the rest of the machinery but the connection cable had been ripped out. Standing back Nick looked around for any other panel doors or anything he could take a wire or cable from. No such luck. He went over what was in the panel already once more. Maybe he could tear something else out.. Nothing. Grasping the screwdriver tightly in hand he wracked his mind trying to find a solution. With so little to work with it seemed near impossible. He rubbed his face with his metallic hand, pausing to look at it thoughtfully. There was one other place he could get a few wires from.. He wondered which the important ones were.. He could manage without the vision in one eye for as long as it took to get out.. or his voice or shoulder for a time, they weren't vital..

"Nick?"

His head turned to his partner at that, his thoughts interrupted by how worried her voice sounded just then. Was someone coming? He glanced at the window to check, but there was no one there so he turned his eyes back to her. "Something the matter?" he asked.

"I know what you're thinking…" she commented with a distinctly unhappy expression dominating her features. The way he was looking at his own hand just then must have been intense enough to unnerve the woman whose nerves where often regarded of as being made of steel. "Don't," she said simply and he frowned, annoyance reaching his tone more strongly than he'd intended.

"And what else are we going to do exactly? Wait here until Claire finds her heart and decides to let us out after all!?" She flinches at the cutting sharpness of his tone and he moderates it feeling instantly remorseful for the outburst. "Look.. I know it sounds grizzly but it's not like I can't find a replacement wire back home. Although.. I could use a little help making sure I get the right one out."

His partner didn't seem any happier about his plan that much is written all over their face but they remain silent, not having either enough energy or ideas to offer much alternative. "I'll be blind on my left side for a little while, that's all, no permanent damage done. For you I-.. I can't say the same if we stay here much longer." His amber eyes meet hers imploringly. He doesn't want to have to go into a full discussion about his thoughts on all of this. On the painful reminder of Jenny and how the idea of losing his best friend and partner with equal cruelty chewed and tore at his insides. He doesn't want to admit how just sitting there and watching them fade away in his arms while he could do nothing about it terrifies the life out of him. But it's all there, in those softly glowing eyes and she seems to pick up on that, her own features softening into sombre resignation. She nods and he moves over to crouch before her, helping her sit up more against the back wall so that she can reach him. He removes his coat, loosening his tie and shirt to expose more of his torn neck section.

"You should be able to find the connection points if you follow this one here," he points out to one of the coloured cables held to his throat section. Her hands feel shaky and clammy from the growing sickness but she is nothing but gentle and careful as her fingers caress his jaw softly reaching in to tug at the wire he has pointed out to her. It feels unpleasant. Not painful just.. 'weird' and the vision cuts from his left, his right eye adjusting to make up for it.

"Are you ok?" she asks following the wire down to find and disconnect the other end of it.

"Yeah I'll be fine, just mind you don't dislodge anything else while you're in there. We'll have to move quickly if this works you know. I'm pretty sure they're watching us somehow. You gonna be able to stand?" He'd rather not have to fight his way out of there but choice wasn't really something he had the luxury of right now. He watches as she nods. She doesn't look up to it at all but he knows she'll push through.

Guilt gnawed at Ellie. She'd been hard on Shaun for good reason but she still didn't like that she did it. He was a young boy, scared and alone. She couldn't blame him for wanting to try and help the people he cared about most. Putting on some water to boil she put together a sweet drink for him, one that the three of them – four occasionally for the rare few times Nick decided to indulge and join them – often sat down and shared together. She hoped that perhaps it would calm him and bring him back to a bit of familiarity. At least enough for him to get some sleep.

"Shaun? Are you still awake? I've brought you something to help take your mind off of things. Shaun?" She frowned looking around. Where had he gotten to now? He'd not left this area she was certain of it as she'd been sat opposite the front door all evening. She placed the drink down and moved to the stairs. Perhaps he'd gone to play with some of the files and old detective clothes kept in a chest up there? But no, reaching the top of the stairs there was no sign of him there either. Her heartbeat picked up in a frantic pace. Where could he have gone? Certainly no one had come in to snatch him she would have heard something! Dogmeat was with him too! Dogmeat…. The rapid thumping of her heart froze suddenly in knowing fear and her head turned upwards. There was another door out of the agency. Once she'd completely neglected to think about until now. She's not sure how they got out so silently but she knew with startling terror what they had done and where they had gone.

Her feet barely touched the ground as she leapt back towards the stairs and down them, grabbing her coat and fumbling with her keys. She locked the agency door before hurrying down the streets of Diamond City up and out all the way hoping that she had only missed them by seconds and that she would catch them before they got too far away. Why hadn't security stopped them? Again, no such luck. Torn between wanting to scream or cry Ellie hesitated at the city gates. What should she do? She wasn't suited to life beyond the walls. She'd barely stepped outside of her home city, not more than twice in fact during her whole life and that was enough as far as she was concerned. Oh.. but the idea of Shaun out there all alone.. The idea of having to face Nick and the boy's mother without him because she failed to do one simple task of looking after him.. She took a deep breath steeling herself. This was no time to be a coward – even if cowards tended to live longer, avoiding gruesome and fatal deaths – she had to find Shaun and bring him home. Though not before giving him a piece of her mind!

She pulled her coat tightly around her shoulders and set off on her march. Her destination: Chestnut Hillock Reservoir.


	6. Act 6: The Detective's Life

Bury me in Snow – Act 6: The Detective's Life

Even with the extra materials Nick had to strip and try to reshape the ends so that the cable would fit into the control panel. It took a lot of patience, which is hard to come by when everything inside of you burns away at the pressing 'what if' scenarios, but he manages. Keeping his cool he works carefully and deliberately hooking up the control panel to its old power source and is rewarded by the flickering light above blinking into existence and the hum of machinery being coaxed back to life. "There, that ought'a do it," he stated, unable to restrain the grin of triumph. He moved over to the door swiftly to try the release button. Nothing. He pushed it again cursing lightly under his breath when it still refused to move. He put his weight into it this time, his shoulder pressing heavily against the door to try and force it from its resting place. He wanted to scream in fury at its reluctance to budge but instead grit his teeth loathed to give in. He must have missed something!

"Nick," he heard his partner call softly but he shook his head not wanting to allow her to try and sooth him. Unwilling to even meet those too tired eyes that would thank him for his efforts but resign to the fact that this was the end. It couldn't be. Not like this, he wouldn't accept it. There had to be something he'd missed. A switch or- or a loose wire or-

He peered in through the open panel again using his working eye to scan everything, following very carefully what connected to what as if he didn't know it all by heart by now. The speaker above then crackled and a laugh he was beginning to hate mocked him once more. "I'm glad to see you're making yourself at home. My boys went to great lengths to modify that room for the two of you. I hope the décor is to your liking."

He hadn't been wrong in his suspicions then… He'd thought it was odd that no one had been down to check on them yet… This whole time he'd been racing against some invisible clock to try and break his friend out of this death trap and they'd just been sat there watching. Laughing. He felt his inner strength falter, fading towards despair. "Nick.." He heard that voice call again oh so softly for the pain its barer must be in. He turned to her now. "It's getting cold," she told him and at first he felt a wave of crushing horror flood through him. They can't give up yet! He just needed a little more time! The flicker of the light overheard stirred him from his panic and drew him to new realisation; that the repairs he'd made on the room had started up the 'fridge' aspect working again and with a flash of bitter annoyance at the situation he reached into the hole and snatched back the cable he'd placed there. So much for that little sacrifice! Moving to pick up his coat he wrapped it around his partner who just smiled at him. Despite their prior comment there was naught but warmth in the way they looked at him and he sat himself down beside her shifting an arm around her shoulders when she leaned into him. He was all out of ideas but if comfort was the best he could offer, he'd be sure to give it in abundance…

Sneaking out had been easier than he'd expected. Dogmeat was really good at moving quietly when he asked him to. He knew his way back to the reservoir. He'd travelled too and from Vault 81 lots of times with his mother - He really liked playing with Austin and Erin there. And he knew it was dangerous out here, he'd seen his mother and her friends fight off tonnes of bad guys! He knew how to shot a gun, he'd even made some himself, and he could outrun any super mutant. Dogmeat definitely could. He could definitely do this. If he was quick he could even get back before Ellie even noticed he was missing.

The duo made it to the reservoir without incident. Shaun crept towards the area where he last saw his mother, keeping his eyes sharp. He kept telling himself that he could do this, that everything would be fine but it didn't change what happened here and the fear and anxiety that comes with it bore into him. "Ok.." he spoke to himself and his companion. "We just need to try and think like Mother and Nick.. We need to find a clue.." He looked around the area. Lots of junk and rubbish.. and then "Ahah! C'mere boy! Look I found something!" Dogmeat trotted over watching the boy curiously as he pointed to the ground. "Can you get a scent from this boy?" he asked the dog pointing to the dry blood that splattered the ground. This he remembered belonged to the guy his mother had head-butted during her attempts to get free of him. He wondered if maybe he should have told Nick that.. but he'd forgotten at the time.

Dogmeat sniffed at the ground then wagged his tail with a single bark. "Have you got it?" Shaun asked him excitedly. "Ok! Go find them boy!" As the dog took off with another back Shaun got up and ran to follow. This trip took a lot more effort not to get caught up with raiders but ducking behind trash cans and waiting until they were gone did the trick. He was glad there weren't any ferals around today. The boy frowned when Dogmeat brought him to a subshop. "This isn't time to stop for a snack boy…" he complained. They were out here on serious business, why was Dogmeat looking for old world food stores? His disappointment was short lived when a bark brought his attention to the hatch door leading to a basement. A grin brightened his features. "Dogmeat you're brilliant!" he praised earning a happy bark and a lick in return. He opened the door and climbed down. It smelt really bad down there.. He followed the path down and froze at the sight of unmoving raiders in the dim light. Maybe Nick had been through here? Those raiders weren't going anywhere any time soon… He frowned covering his eyes as he continued on hastily. Dogmeat brushed past him leading him down a path he hadn't even spotted and barked once more. It seemed like he had found something.

The room looked like a really small house. Flowers decorated it and at first glance Shaun thought that this would make a really cool den or a secret hide out. He looked around the room and from under the bed where Dogmeat was pointing he found a bloodied handkerchief. This must have been what that guy used to clean his nose with. … Gross. He threw it aside moving around the room to look for other things. The computer was left on and he hurried over to have a look at it. He opened up a few of the files not really reading through them fully, more just speed reading to try and see if it said anything about his mother or Nick. There was a holotape recording on there that was too Nick but he didn't understand it. But, if something to Nick was on here then it must mean that he was using this computer right? He looked around it for any other clues. Simple things that would normally go overlooked, that's what the two detectives always told him when he was playing at doing cases with them. What would he normally see at home or at the agency but here in this house he'd never been in before? The ashtray seemed pretty normal to him. Nick smoked more than anyone he knew, and he remembers he's mother has even mentioned it to him a few times though she never sounded really mad about it. This one was full, almost over flowing like the one's on his desk at the agency. He pulled the ceramic dish off of the desk and lowered it to Dogmeat. "Can you smell these boy?" he requested of the animal. Dogmeat put his nose to them, cocked his head, sniffed again and then barked twice. "Is that a yes?" Another bark. Grinning Shaun placed the ashtray back on the desk and motioned for the dog to lead onwards. They were getting closer, he was sure of it!

He left the sub shop with a new lift to his step chasing his canine companion out into the Commonwealth once again. He didn't notice until it was too late the person lurking in the shadows. He cried out as they grabbed him, Dogmeat spinning around with a deep growl in his throat. "What's a scrawny little thing like you doing out here all on your lonesome?" sounded a rough and slurred voice. "Reckon I could make a cap or two putting you to good work."

Shaun squirmed to get free, yelping in pain as the raider's grip tightened twisting his arm painfully behind his back. "Let me go!" he demanded only to have the man laugh in his ear. His voice was ugly and his breath stank of old beer and bad teeth. Dogmeat snarled and then his ears picked up with a whine, Shaun looked to him wondering what had caught his attention for a moment before a loud 'clang' and a thud sounded above him. Seemingly at once the sound rang in his ears startling him and the pain in his arm was gone as the raider slouched and sank to the floor unconscious. He span around backing off and looking up at the new arrival. "Ellie!"

Ellie stood panting and angrier than he had ever seen her. She had a cooking pot in her hands and was looking like he might be the next to get hit with it. "What did I tell you?" she breathed sounding somewhere between furious and horrified. It resulted in her dropping the pot and reaching over to him pulling him into a tight hug of relief. "You stupid boy, you could have gotten yourself killed, or worse!" She drew back holding his shoulders and looking him over to make sure he wasn't missing anything vital. He looked suitably subdued.

"I'm sorry.. I just.. We found out where they are. Dogmeat has the scent we just have to follow-"

"No! Absolutely not! We're going home. Right this instant."

"But Ellie!"

"No buts. You just almost got yourself taken off by this raider. We don't know how many more are soon to appear here and we know for certain that there are many dangerous people wherever Dogmeat is tracking us too."

"But what if they're in trouble?" The boy looked to her imploringly and she sighed in exasperation. "Please Ellie."

It was a terrible idea. Worse than terrible and every fibre of her being told her to simply drag the boy back to Diamond City but… She couldn't find it in her to argue with him anymore. Maybe it's because a part of her was also worried about the two detectives. Maybe it was just the irresistible lure of the puppy dog eyes. Whatever it was she now found herself following a dog and an 11 year old boy through the dangerous Commonwealth to find a synth detective and a missing mother.

She wasn't getting paid enough for this.


	7. Act 7: Things I have learned

Bury me in Snow – Act 7: Things I have learned.

Nick tried to ignore the laboured breaths sounding from the person resting against his chest and the light tremor that occasionally took over their form. He tried to ignore the ticking of his Geiger counter, which was low but constant like the last few grains in a sand timer, and he tried to ignore the pain he felt and the guilt. He had let emotion get the better of him before and this is why he came rushing in here despite all the now glaringly obvious signs that this was a trap. He couldn't fully silence the sad thought that the two of them had first met with him trapped in that vault. He wasn't a fan of the irony that trapped is how they should part.

The silence bore into him. With nothing more than the reminding tick of his radiation metre and her struggling for breath he could feel his mind cracking under the pressure of its own looped thoughts. He had to think of something else… Maybe he could keep calling until one of the guards came. Maybe she could just play dead and they could see where Claire's sick, twisted plan went from there and try to find a hole in it.

"Hey, Nick," her voice breathed from where it was tucked against his neck, under his jaw. "Think you can read a bit to me?"

He smiled to himself faintly. "Sure." He began reciting from one he believed was a favourite of hers. He remembers with a quiet chuckle to himself the very first time she'd made this request of him. It was back when they were trying to free the Commonwealth from the dark clutches of the Institute and she'd asked him if he'd stay with her the night – had said that she didn't feel comfortable sleeping in a strange place without a lock on the door. ..Come to think of it he doesn't even think there was a door. He'd agreed. It was a reasonable request and he didn't sleep so keeping watch was no trouble for him. 'Would you.. read to me?' she'd asked with obvious hesitance. She'd expanded when he'd looked at her questioningly. 'I just, find your voice soothing…' He'd been flattered but had still laughed a little at the colour her face went. He'd sat down then and spoke aloud lines he could remember from the last book he'd read. Poetry he thinks it was. He did the same now, as he'd done on a few rare occasions throughout that past year, only instead of sitting at the foot of the bed or in a nearby chair he held her close. "O my Luve's like a red, red rose, that's newly sprung in June; O my Luve's like the melodie, that's sweetly played in tune. As fair art thou…~" *

"Shhh!" the boy sounded ducking behind a broken wall. Ellie followed suit and listened to Dogmeat growling, his heckles raising. "There!" he stated quietly but urgently pointing at the entrance.

"How can you be sure?" Ellie asked him feeling her insides freezing over. This couldn't be happening, this was all just a bad dream…

"I'm sure of it," Shaun persisted. "Dogmeat lead us here and I recognise those outfits. Those are the guys!"

Ellie sighed uneasily. "But there are too many of them, we'll never get through there. Shaun… Look, you did great getting here I'll admit it but this is where we're out matched. Let's go back and get Diamond City security or the Minutemen to help us."

The boy shook his head vigorously. "There's no time. They might leave or decide they don't' want my mother around anymore, besides Diamond City security never do anything! Though… I now wish I'd picked up a signal flare.. The minutemen would've come I'm sure."

"Then we should go find them," Ellie persisted, keep to get him away. Her gut felt like a lead weight when instead the boy pointed to something else in the loading bay area.

"There," he stated as if this suddenly changed everything. Ellie strained to see what he was pointing to. Shaun answered the question she dared not ask. "It's a set of protectrons!"

Before she could even begin to form a response to that the boy was moving towards them. She reached to grab him but missed having to pull back in against the wall to hide when one of the guards looked their way. "Shaun!" she hissed after him but the boy just waved her off assured that he would be fine. He definitely wouldn't be fine! Because if they made it through all of this she was going to kill him! He crept through the rubble keeping low and to the shadows and Ellie was certain her heart would stop every time one of the guards drew close and was confident that it actually did when he misjudged a dash and one of said guards raised their head at the noise. Ice filled her veins as the gunman walked towards Shaun and Dogmeat to investigate, weapon in hand and ready to use. Her breathing erratic she searched frantically for something she could use. Picking up a stone from the ruins of the wall she threw it, pleased it landed some distance behind the gunman. He turned his head moving quickly to find the cause whilst she hid, tucked beneath her own meagre shelter with a silent prayer only drawing breath again when she peered out to see the child and Dogmeat using the brief distraction to hide somewhere else. The gunman shook his head putting the sounds down to the normal crumbling of the old, damaged building and Shaun took his own breath of relief sneaking the rest of the short way over to the terminal he'd spotted.

Computer hacking had turned out to be another talent of his along with building and engineering, granted he still had a lot to learn in both. Seemed computers and machines just worked well with him and it helped that Nick had taught him a few things too. It took longer to get in than he felt comfortable with but eventually he earned the prize he'd been hoping for. The two protectron units whirled into action starting about their noisy patrols and drawing the attention of every guard in the area whilst doing so. He'd seen his mother use this trick once before and he got a thrill at getting to try it out himself. Hastily he hid himself behind a number of crates until the guards had all passed him to chase the machines which had every intention of going down with a fight now that someone had been stupid enough to shoot one of them. He grinned him himself trying not to laugh and called for Dogmeat to follow him. He kept low and hurried on inside the warehouse main building before anyone could see them. Meanwhile Ellie looked on, not entirely sure if she were horrified, impressed or outraged by the events transpiring before her very eyes. Spotting the child and dog run on ahead inside snapped her out of her stupor however and, having a much more dangerous task of making it across the loading bay to the entrance doors swallowed her fears, closed her eyes and made a mad dash, as quickly as she could move whilst still crouching behind old, rusted wagons and rotten car shells. She made it in just in time to see the fluffy tip of a tail disappear through a set of doors and gave chase, intent on strangling the two of them.

The dog licked at his hand and drew him forward with a wag of his tail. "You found them boy?" Shaun grinned, his expression replaced by one of terror, the dog yelping then snarling when a hand reached out and grabbed him by the waist lifting him into the air. Teeth and fangs where presented to the attacker and Shaun felt a sudden panic at the sight of a gun pointed at Dogmeat's head, finger pulling down on the trigger. "NO!" he screamed. A loud sound dampened his cry and Dogmeat recoiled with a faint whine and a look of terror as Shaun felt himself falling forward, the once strong arm around his waist releasing him, the body of the attacker dropping to the floor with a wound to his skull that looked like it would leave more than a simple headache if he ever woke up. He turned around to once again face a furious and haggard looking Ellie, this time with a wrench in hand.

"Enough!" she growled at him and even Dogmeat was smart enough to have his tail tucked between his legs. Gunmen where no problem but an angry secretary with a wrench was a whole new ball game for him. "Are you trying to get us both killed!?"

"N-no.. I just.." the boy responded feebly.

"Just nothing," she snapped cutting him off. "I've had it. You've dragged me half way across the Commonwealth and now we're stuck inside a dilapidated basement filled with trigger happy madmen. I'm taking charge. We're going to find Nick and your mum and then we are going home. Once we are home you will be cleaning and filing in the agency for the next 3 months do you understand me!"

Shaun blinked at her. It's not often that he got into trouble and he guesses he has really crossed a line this time but.. that doesn't change what he thinks he just heard. "You mean.. we- we're gonna keep looking for them!" he asks not able to hold back the hope and the eager smile that comes with it. Hell, he'd clean the agency for a whole year if it where true.

Ellie sighed heavily. She wanted to stay mad but she couldn't. It wasn't in her to do so and even less so when faced with a kid this cute – granted he was pushing the boundaries of 'cute' right now. "Yes. We are already here and I don't think we could turn back now even if we wanted to.. Finding them is our only hope." The two seemed alight with renewed confidence at her words and she shook her head in disbelief at the whole situation. "Stay quiet. We'll follow Dogmeat but keep your eyes peeled for guards and traps."

The dog guided them through a difficult series of corridors. Ellie was grateful that so many of the storeroom doors where open as they often needed to quickly duck inside of them to hide from a passing patrol guard. She disliked getting into fights and felt herself outmatched by experienced killers but having the dog distract a lone guard so that she could hit them over the head from behind worked out the two more times she had to do it. There was a little guilt there, but not much. They reached what she thought must have been the lowest level to find what seemed to be an empty basement. She frowned feeling more unnerved by this than the floors with the guards on it. At least on those floors she knew what was out to get them. "Shaun.. I don't think there's anyone down here… maybe we should check someplace else." The dog barked twice however causing the child to shake his head.

"Dogmeat knows where he's going. He's pointing for us to go that way. Hey wait, what's that."

Following the boy's line of sight Ellie squinted at the object overhead. It was facing to aim further down the corridor and it was so dark she was surprised that the boy had spotted it. "I don't know.. it.. almost looks like a turret but it's far too small." She noted the cable attached to it leading down and towards what she assumed would be its power source. She pulled at it disconnecting the cable and hoping it disabled whatever type of trap that was. "Keep an eye out for any more ok?" she told the boy as the three moved forwards both carefully and quietly. They only found one other before she heard voices and motioned for the boy to pull in to the wall. They both listened trying to work out where the guard must be from the sound of his voice. She frowned to herself. It was distant and muffled but she was it sounded familiar. Nodding her head forwards they edged ever closer, their eyes and ears focused on finding anything dangerous. She found it strange that of the traps they came across not a single one was in use and her heart thumped wildly against her chest. She liked this less and less. Perhaps ferals lived down here and that is why they guards kept their distance?

"You are violets with wind above them. A child - so high - you are, and all this is folly to the world."**

Ellie frowned before realisation took all the weight and coldness from her chest in a wave of relief and recognition. That was poetry, and Nick's voice speaking it. By the looks of it Shaun had had the same moment of epiphany as she and Dogmeat barked excitedly at a heavy looking door causing the voice to pause for a moment before calling out with greater volume. "Someone there?"

The voice sounded hopeful and Ellie and Shaun both moved over to look through the window, only Ellie being tall enough to actually see properly, Shaun standing on his tiptoes to peer in through the corner. She could see them both and immediately she understood the new severity of their situation. She wasn't a doctor but she was pretty certain that a healthy human skin tone shouldn't be that colour.. Nick was already pulling himself into a standing position with his partner in his arms as Ellie tried frantically at the handle to pull the door open. "You gotta use that terminal to get the door open," Nick prompted. Shaun was on the task before Ellie could so much as turn around. Fortune would have it that the computer was still unlocked from when Nick hacked into it and the door swung open. Elie had to take several steps back, she'd expected he'd be eager to get out of there but he well nearly ran her over as if a ticking bomb had just been released in the cell. "Get away from there," he warned drawing them both back down the hall where they had just come from. The dog yelped and barked when the door slammed itself shut seconds later nearly taking his nose off. He growled taking his revenge by cocking a leg up to it.

Shaun rushed over to the two detectives grasping at the coat Nick still had wrapped around his mother. "What's wrong with her?" the boy demanded. "Is-is she gonna be ok?"

Nick seemed to be taking a moment to get his bearings but was swift to act turning to Ellie and carefully transferring his partner to her back. She felt her legs strain to take the weight but she leant forwards to keep her there safely. Nick drew his gun and ushered the child behind him. There was only one way out now and the synth seemed to want to waste no time going about it. "We need to get her to a doctor. Stay behind me and stay hidden. They've been watching us this whole time so no doubt she knows we're breakin' out of here." He had questions of course about how the two of them had ended up there but those questions could wait for later. Right now his partner was running short on time.

"She? She who?" he heard asked to him as he motioned for them to move forward. He raised his pistol and strode purposefully ahead without a further word. Answers and questions later, right now he needed his head in the game and a clear path away from this damn place.

He wasn't wrong. There where numerous guards blocking their path and for the second time Nick was glad that the nature of that trap meant that there was no one there to empty his pockets and take his weapons from him. A well-aimed grenade followed by swift and accurate shooting was made all the more difficult given that he only had the one working eye at current but still vital to their success in escape and so he worked harder than he believes he ever has in the past. He is grateful for Dogmeat's assistance in this as otherwise he'd be fighting completely unaided with three people to protect. He can't say the odds where ones he would have picked for himself but here he was. Upon reaching the ground floor he cleared enough of a path that the three could back themselves out of the side door into the room Shaun recognised as being home to the protectrons he'd released earlier. Pity they were no long around to help them now. Another grenade broke the ranks of the gunmen and Nick ushered them forwards. "Run! Head west until you reach the road and don't stop running until you reach Diamond City. Get Doc Sun to look her over, the rads down there have been eatin' at her fer hours."

"What about you?"

He heard the boy call out to him but once again he shook his head finding himself without time to give a proper response. "I'll cover ya, now move!" Another grenade kept the guards at a distance whilst Ellie took the boy by the hand urging him to come with her and his mother. Dogmeat seemed torn and Nick glanced at the animal briefly readying his pistol again. "Go with them boy. Keep 'em safe for me will ya." He heard the responding bark and hurried footsteps moving to catch up with the otherwise unarmed trio. He would admit that he could use the help but he'd been stuck in touch situations like this before. He wasn't beaten then and sure as heck he wouldn't be beaten now.

Poem References:

 *** A Red, Red Rose** **by Robert Burns**

 **** A Girl** **by Ezra Pound**


	8. Bury me in Snow – Final Act: Spring

Bury me in Snow – Final Act: Spring is coming.

She wasn't used to this. She was never warned about fieldwork when she applied for the job as a detective secretary. Her lungs burned with stinging cold fire and her back ached, her muscles screaming for her to stop but she knew she didn't have time to rest. Having travelled out of the city with his mother numerous times before Shaun knew the safest routes which weren't the most direct but got them to the city with less need for stealth or fighting. In all her years she has never been as happy to see the turrets and security officers lining the streets and she almost wept at the sight of them. One of the patrolling units moved over to them when they spotted the group and Ellie was grateful to have the weight taken from her back and legs as he lifted the sickly woman into his arms. "I'll go and get doctor Sun!" she heard Shaun calling already running on ahead. She barely had the strength in her arm to wave a confirmation as she rested against the city gates trying to catch her breath. Everything hurt but they were at least safe now. Despite this, doubt still sat heavily in her gut. Would the doctor have enough time left and skill to help and where was Nick? Was he still stuck at the warehouse? A hand rested on her shoulder and trusting her legs a little more to take her weight she rose and followed the path Shaun and the others would have walked with the support of the guard. She still had a lot of work to do.

Blood and dust speckled his face and faded trench coat. His steps were slow and thoughtful as he crossed the warehouse floor bending to pick his hat up dusting it off and placing it back upon his head before lighting another cigarette and inhaling deeply. There was another packet gone. Keeping the enemy from following the group he considered 'family' had been the initial plan but, of course, that had meant that as soon as the group were out of range all eyes – and guns – turned to him. It had taken every ounce of wit and cunning to pull through this and for now he pushed back the creeping awareness that anger and revenge may have been fuelling part of his success in surviving… That wasn't something he could be proud of but right now there were more important things to consider. Claire's escape for one.

He had cleared the ground floor and had followed the sound of her voice through the intercom up to the management offices on the top section of the building. ' _Remove that rust bucket's legs if you have to but I want him alive!' 'You… The real Nick Valentine always was a pain in the ass but you won't escape me. I will make you suffer for what you did to my Eddie!' 'Dammit you idiots! You out number him, stop him!' 'ooohh… I see now how we have underestimated you. But that's fine. It will only make my revenge all the more satisfying and I can wait. I have nothing but time on my hands now.'_ He'd been drawing close at this point, he had sensed it. A gang leader always displayed similar characteristics when cornered and the growing tension and fury in Claire's voice told him that she had been getting worried. Just as when he and his partner had stood outside Eddie Winter's bunker, code in their possession, his mechanical heart pumped furiously in hard, steady rhythms. It was another thing, another feeling, he was accustomed to in his line of work – that almost predatory 'excitement' that came at the end of a long and dangerous case. The feeling of closing in for the kill and while the sensations where overwhelming they were yet another thing Nick did not like to dwell on. Another thing he wasn't particularly proud to acknowledge – a bloodlust he found more respectable to conquer and abstain from in favour of mercy and respect. But not this time. Like Eddie he would enjoy bringing an end to Claire Winter. Electric pulsed through his joints which were poised for swift and precision action. The door was locked but that mattered little; a hard enough kick tore the lock from old, brittle wood and left the door swinging back on its hinges. He walked slowly through the doorway, eye sharp and gun ready.

' _He'll come for me. That is what she said in defiance once. Her last word was his name in a desperate plea for help as she wept and then that was the end of it for her.'_ An empty, cold shadow very suddenly invaded him replacing the fire that had burned within only seconds ago. _'Take your little friends. Keep them close.'_ Her voice was low and a threatening promise behind the words would have caused him to shiver if he were able to. He'd walked over to the desk then and had sat himself down, the wind completely knocked from him as his fingers closed around a file that had been left there along with a few other items he was sure would come in useful later. _'Keep them safe,'_ the gravelly voice had purred and he reached out to turn the speakers off. He'd had enough of hearing it. Claire was gone. It looked like it had been a rapid departure but through the chaos he had failed to see where they fled to and within the office there was no hint either – and anyone could be sure he looked for one in great detail before he left that room.

It took him a long time and a great deal of effort to pull himself away and even now as he left the Gwinnett warehouse his steps leading him to one particular destination were unhurried. They ought to have been quicker, rushed in some mad dash to catch up with the group that had run on ahead of him – especially since he didn't even know if they'd made it back to Diamond City yet. It was then he realised why he was taking his time; he was afraid. Taking another long drag of his cigarette he felt the smoke escape the holes in flesh around his neck even as he exhaled and explored this realisation a little more. It had been many years since he felt so afraid. Not since he first woke up in the Commonwealth with no real understanding of what or where he was in fact and for him it was the first time he had felt it over people he deeply cared for. Just as old Nick had feared for Jenny, had searched frantically and without rest to find her, he felt fear for his family and the dangers they may now be facing. He came to realise that the reason his pace was so leisurely was not because of any calm or peace he might be presenting to the outside world but because he was truly terrified of what he might find once he finally reached his destination. Would his partner still be alive? Would any of them? Perhaps there were stragglers from this group that managed to catch up with them or perhaps not. Perhaps they were all safe in the city but even then what awaited them in their futures. He didn't sleep but he couldn't keep watch over the three of them all day everyday – he is fairly certain they would object to him trying. He felt at a loss and the only person he felt he could turn to at a time like this, well.. They weren't awfully chatty the last he saw of them. He'd been reciting a number of his favourite lines to her as she'd requested but whilst he never stopped his gentle speech to her he had felt as her body had sagged into his more and more. Felt as she had slowly lost more and more strength until she couldn't even hold herself up any more. He closed his eyes for only a moment but what felt like a brief eternity. He knew he'd lose her – lose all of them – someday but so soon and like this, it wasn't something he could accept. He took a breath, throwing his cigarette to the ground and then adjusting his coat around his shoulders. He couldn't put off the inevitable forever and right now there where people who needed him. Ellie was probably besides herself and Shaun… poor kid, he was going to need someone to talk to too. He picked up in his pace striding purposefully forward. His destination: Diamond city.

It wasn't half as chaotic as he had been expecting. It was quiet however and he had felt his heart sinking the moment he stepped through the door at home plate. Doctor Sun had set them up there given that this was an emergency and his shop had no beds. He knew there was a place in the city the doctor could take extremely ill patients to but since his partner lived on the Diamond City market it made sense to have her in the comfort of her own home, such comfort she could be in. He had walked in to find Shaun, Ellie and Dogmeat sat on the sofa, Ellie had her hand around the boy's shoulders who in turn looked like his world was crashing down around him. Nick couldn't really blame the kid. That all changed when they saw him however. Faces brightened a little and life spring up where previously there looked to have been none. He'd heard his name on all their tongues and had quickly found himself surrounded. A series of questions came his way and he had to settle them before being able to make sense of any of it. He had told them then about the trap and the radiation. He told them about a gang leader who he and his partner had apparently made themselves enemies of but refrained from telling them the whole story. He couldn't bring himself to. It was a personal tale, one that involved subjects he really didn't feel comfortable with sharing however selfish that may be and in the end one that didn't really matter anyway. The explanation he had given was true enough and held all the details that they 'needed' to know. He had sat with them then and whist they had waited for Doctor Sun to finish his work in peace upstairs, despite the powerful urge to go up there and see what was going on, he spoke with Ellie and Shaun at length about what had happened over the last couple of days. He had a few questions of his own if fact. The first being; how they ended up all the way out there to rescue them. He had to admit he was very impressed by the boy's ability if not a little proud of him but more than that he was concerned about the foolishness of his actions. He was sure to impress upon the boy that whilst it all worked out for the best this time it could have gone so horribly wrong. He didn't say as much but the idea of being stuck in that cell with not only his partner fading away but Ellie and Shaun too.. It really didn't bare thinking about.

By the time doctor Sun had done everything he could the three had lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, all of them awaiting any hint of news. Naturally the doctor was the next one to be bombarded with questions and Nick had to admire his patience in the face of such impatient and demanding assailants. "I have done everything I can," he had told them. "Such long exposure to radiation isn't something that can be flushed out like any other. It will take a number of days but.. we will see. I will come back in the morning, until then let her rest. I advise you all do the same."

He had left at that point and had returned as promised the next morning, and the morning after that and the morning after that… Shaun had sat with her most of the first night. Up until he had fallen asleep in the chair they had moved up there and Nick had gone and put him to bed. After that Ellie had taken him back home with her. He put in a minor protest about wanting to stay but they agreed that it was for the best. It's not the argument he had used to the boy but the reality was that if the worst did really happen, if- .. if his partner didn't make it, or worse, if they turned into a ghoul – feral or not – then he didn't want the boy around to witness it first-hand. Aside from that getting food, water and medicine into her system took care and patience and whilst the doctor did what he could whilst he was here, he couldn't stay with her 24/7 when he had other patients in the city to tend to. Nick had taken on these duties as well allowing her to sleep for the best part of each day and then taking time to help her sit up to eat, drink and wash during the small periods she was awake. It was a small attempt he supposed to make up for getting her into this situation in the first place but by the week's end he wanted to think that she finally looked to be getting stronger. It was very late in the evening on the fifth day that he had found himself reclined in the chair at her bedside listening to the usual creaks and groans of the house along with his own thoughts. He watched her as she slept, the light of the candles on the dresser dancing over her too pale skin.

' _Your fiancé? You mean Valentine's fiancé. Pretty girl. A shame what happened to her. He should have backed off when he had the chance.'_

He'd be lying if he said Eddie's words hadn't been cutting. He had been grateful that his partner had been at his back all the way through that ordeal and throughout the aftermath. Even now he wasn't sure how to pinpoint what made her the exception but normally he would never have shared such a private and intimate feature of his life with anyone, let alone have them witness it. But there she had been and not at any point had he been made to regret it. There had been a kinship there. A bond of trust that had been built up over time and was now harder than steel. It was only as he left the warehouse that he had come to realise how much he had come to rely on that bond and how much he had been taking it for granted. He hadn't even noticed the changes take place in himself. He'd been working alone initially and when Marty came along he was hardly the type of partner he could count on. He'd been caught completely off guard when Ellie had offered the position to a woman who had practically just walked through their door, granted she had proven herself to be quite capable, but had since come to depend heavily on her. Not only for help around the agency as a colleague getting through the ever building piles of backed up cases but also as a friend. Looking back he can think of more than one occasion he has turned to her for advice or a second opinion and more than that he realised that those moments really meant something. Her words, her advice, her thoughts. All of it had meant something, had helped him ground himself or find the perspective he needed to complete his work. He had given in return of course. There had been numerous occasions too that he could think of off the top of his head when his partner had come to him for similar reasons and he would like to think they had a similar connection; that his words and influences had meant something. He'd certainly gotten that impression from them at least.. Partners… The two of them were partners and despite that it had only been a single year, well almost, since they met and even less than that since they started working solidly on the agency it felt like they had known each other for a lifetime. He wasn't sure how he would adjust to a world without her anymore.. The thought tore at his insides like a knife across paper. If he could cry then perhaps it would be better. He could get this pain and fear out in the form of tears. Just let it run dry until only the tired and empty space remained that he could then start filling in by burying himself in his work and smoke fumes. There would be a strange satisfaction to feeling the warm stream of tears run along his cheeks, taking his sorrow with each drop that fell onto the backs of his hands that rested loosely in his lap. But his eyes where solid and dry. His throat did not grow sore around the dry lump that would grow there as it did when old Nick wept for Jenny. His nose did not run or block uncomfortably and his cheeks remained dry. But his chest did feel heavy. He wasn't sure if it was some clever programming or just a figment of his imagination based on the human memories he had but he felt the hard, leaded weight there as he sat with a pain that simply had no means of escaping him. What could he do when the one he would normally talk to about all of this was the one who needed him to be strong right now?

"What are you looking at?" The question startled him and he looked over at the bed. He knew that expression and returned it with a sheepish one of his own. He'd been so caught up in his own head that he hadn't even realised that she had been laying there watching him for who knows how long. He looked down at his hands where he loosely held a scrap from the file he picked up at the warehouse. He handed it to her with little hesitance but with a resigned sigh. She studied it in the dim, orange light before returning her gaze to him. "Is this-?" He responded with a single, silent nod. Her sympathetic frown was all he needed to know her feelings towards him on the matter. "She's beautiful..." he heard her comment, looking to the picture one last time before passing it back to him.

"She was," he agreed taking the old photo back and placing it safely in his pocket. "In spirit as well as in face. She- ..She didn't deserve what happened to her. And neither did you." His features hardened, the pain in his chest swelling as he tried to find the words he'd spent the last number of hours searching for in vain. How did he even begin to apologise for getting her and her son involved in all of this? "Look I'm-"

As it turns out he didn't have to. She shook her head and cut him off. Her voice was still tired and oh so very weak but it still had that hard air of command about it when she summoned that inner strength and conviction. "Don't you dare," she stated throwing him completely with the angle she had taken. "You can't be held responsible for this any more than I can be held responsible for the things the Institute has done to the people of the Commonwealth." Her eyes and tone softened then, wrapping him in their warmth like a blanket on a cold day. "Look.. All that happened with Jennifer.. It wasn't Nick's fault, it certainly wasn't your fault. We brought justice to them both when we took down Winter. We did the right thing and never once have I regretted that, not even stuck in that cell." She looked to him meaningfully then, waiting for him to process those words and arrange his own thoughts, and this time feelings, around them.

"No I.. I guess you're right. I'm not sorry that we took that bastard out but even so I ah.. I'm still worried about what this all means for us now. You, Shaun and Ellie.. None of you are gonna be safe so long as Claire is still at large," he responded finally with a frown.

What sounded like a faint chuckle escaped her and it concerned him that she might not be taking this as seriously as she ought to. Her following words persuaded him otherwise however. "When are we ever safe in this line of work? How many gangs and thugs have we ticked off enough that they wouldn't benefit from a bounty being on our heads? That's the reason I moved Shaun here to Diamond City in the first place. I feel better with him inside these walls and the patrol guards to watch him whilst I am out on a case. Nick.. this isn't any different to the dangers we face every day. It just feels more personal because, well, it is."

His eyes widened because of course she was right. He's always known that theirs was a high risk career but despite all the close calls they'd had none had affected him this deeply. But no other had been so intimately connected to his, or rather old Nick's, past. The fear was not new but it was from a direction he wasn't used to and just like that the weight and restriction in his chest dispersed like a morning mist. The feelings were still there. He still held pain, and fear and anger inside but it no longer gripped him with that strangling hold that denied him clear thought. "Heh. Here you are in your sick bed giving me a once over with my problems again," he commented with the first real smile that had touched his lips in days. She just smiled back and covered her mouth for a yawn.

"You can return the favour by helping me get to the bathroom," she commented struggling to sit upright. At this point the radiation had been cleaned from her system, or so the doctor said, but her body still had to recover from the effects of poisoning. It had left her drained of energy and strength in a way she could never have expected. The effort of getting out of bed and walking to the edge of the stairs was enough to leave her exhausted and faint. She hated it but only time would heal her now. Nick moved to help her up wrapping an arm around her waist at the back and allowing her to rest her weight against his shoulders where her own arm lay. Once he had returned her to her bed and watched as her eyes once again struggled to remain open he began reading aloud, without prompt this time, just because he felt like doing so and because he knew it soothed her. Tomorrow, he decided, when Shaun and Ellie arrived after the boy's schooling to give him time away from the house and her bedside he would return to the agency and start this new case. A case just like any other. There was one feature he recognised that Claire and Eddie seemed to share – their arrogance. Claire had unnerved him that was for sure and she seemed to think that she held all the cards but now, now his head was in the game. He was back on track with no distractions and with both his eyes working this time. She no longer held the element of surprise to catch him off guard and she had the Commonwealth's most experienced detectives out to find her. Winter's end was drawing near.

End note. Thank you for reading the Bury me in Snow series. I hope you had as much enjoyment reading it as I had writing it. ^_^


	9. Epilogue

Bury me in Snow – Epilogue

Nick had given Ellie the week of via paid vacation. Not only did he think she deserved it but really she needed it after everything they'd all been through. His partner had recovered enough at this point that they could make the journey across the city to reach the agency and was sick enough of bedrest and staring at the same four walls for the past two weeks that she was eager to get back to work. He was grateful that she was being sensible about it though. She'd stuck to the office going through the theory side of the job and organising their work – had taken over Ellie's job really for the week with the addition of heading out to interview a few clients that lived in the city to help Nick get started on a couple of cases as he finished off others. He'd still walk her home each evening though to make sure she made it there.

They'd fallen back into a more familiar, if slower paced, routine for now and one afternoon as the two of them sat in that office with no more than the clock ticking happily to the sound of turning pages and smoke drifting in the air between them her voice sounded out to him quietly. Something had been playing on her mind after all it seemed. "I was thinking," she started sounding like she was still going over her choice of words in her head. He put his cigarette down and turned to look over his shoulder to her. "When Shaun has turned 16, I want to tell him about what he is.."

Now that certainly wasn't what he had expected to hear and he turned more fully in his chair now so as to face her. This conversation was a little more than casual. "You mean that he's a synth?" he clarified. Of course he knew. He was probably the first one outside of the Institute to be told and to his knowledge had been the only one so far. They'd never discussed the matter further and he'd always suspected that it would take her time to adjust to everything that had gone on with her family and the Institute. He just figured that if and when she needed to she would come to him on her own. Seems like this was the day.

"Yeah.." she confirmed. "I was thinking about a lot of things over the last few days. Mostly about the people I've met. Friends I have known. I was thinking about Danse and, well, I don't want Shaun to ever have to go through that. I don't want him to be caught off guard by some poorly timed or hurtful reveal. And I don't want that, if he never knew, to wonder if there was something wrong with him. Wonder why he can't have children, why he doesn't age like his friends or have to worry about if he should have to go to a doctor or a mechanic if he ever got hurt or sick."

Nick nodded finding himself agreeing with her sentiments and of course he himself couldn't see why there should be any shame in knowing you were a synth. There were still numerous members of Diamond City who would disagree with him there though so he suspected that this still wouldn't be 'common knowledge'. "Why wait until then though?" he asked. He could think of a few reasons himself both for and against the idea of telling him now but he just wanted to know where she stood on this.

"I don't think he needs to.." she responded thoughtfully. He could tell he'd been right in assuming she'd thought long and hard about that part too. "Let him have his childhood but he has to worry about who he is and why he is. Hopefully by then he will already have the answers to those questions and the information won't affect him much at all."

Nick nodded and turned himself back to his desk and his work, placing the cigarette back between his lips and believing that was more or less the end of anything they needed to talk about. The two where agreed on both the act and its timing but her voice sounded again and he lifted his head with a smile and a chuckle at the question, as if it even needed to be asked.

"I- I would be happier knowing that he had you to look to, if he needed someone. Someone of his own kind that had been through it all before.." she had spoken with a needless hesitance as if by some stretch of the imagination she might be asking too much of him.

He looked over his shoulder again, his amber eyes glowing warmly through the haze of smoke. "Kid if he needs me for anything, I'll be there," he promised and was granted a glowing smile of gratitude in return. The two returned to their respective workloads then and was pleased to find that the soft, warm hum in his chest remained with him as the comfort of simply being together in silence took over once again. Life finally felt like it was normal.


End file.
